Final Destination
by Janine1
Summary: We find ourselfs 2 years after the series ended. Lister, Rimmer and Cat have all found someone, but someone is very upset. She leaves off in search of what she is looking for.
1. Prologue- Sweet Memories

Final Destination  
  
PG (so far)  
  
Written by: Janine Morris  
  
  
  
A/N: hey, hope you like this. I kind of got the idea after reading the bonding trilogies by Lauren Greenleaf. I hope I was creative enough. Reviews are well appreciated. Don't worry, I can handle constructive criticism. I decided to take a star wars-y angle for this and start like 2 years after the series ended. Don't worry, I'll fill you in with the prologue and random flashbacks!  
  
Disclaimer: sometimes to understand words we have to break them down. Dis, which is insult in American slang, claim means to take or own, er means someone who is really pissed. So therefore I am claiming to insult someone who is very pissed, and disclaiming this story as MINE MINE MINE! Oh yeah, original characters belong to grant Naylor.  
  
Dedications: I dedicate this story to…………MYSELF, because I have always been there for me!!!!! J/k. this is dedicated to Lauren Greenleaf, for writing the bonding trilogy, nej47 for writing We Don't Need another hero, and Starfruit  
  
  
  
  
  
*~Prologue- sweet memories~*  
  
Arnold Rimmer sat in the lounge in front of a few empty cans of lager. He wasn't much of a drinker, but tonight seemed like a good night to get wasted. Life had treated him very good for the last two years. Why did fate choose now to be so cruel to him? He still had the woman he loved, a child, and his best friends, but with his gain came a huge loss.  
  
He could still remember how everything had begun so many years ago when they rescued Myra from an abandoned ship on a small hell hole planetoid. She had been there for years alone, and was semi insane. Rimmer and Lister had both fallen instantly in love with her. For Lister, it was because she was probably the only woman alive, for Rimmer it was much deeper. He was merely a soft light hologram back then, and it drove him completely crazy. He would still be now if it wasn't for legion. He and Myra became so close. Lister didn't stand a chance.  
  
Months later, they came across a rip in space and time that lead to another dimension, there they got yet another human female ship mate, who coincidently happened to be Kristine Kochanski, Lister's Ex Girlfriend, well, not for long. It took months for them to finally give in to their love. slowly but surly a very deep relationship grew.  
  
Life was like a fairy tale. The cat had even found love. They later came across another parallel dimension. The difference was, the last remaining cat of the cat race had been female. Needless to say, they instantly fell in love with each other. They went against everything they stood for, being the stylish cats they were. It was much more than a five minute relationship.  
  
An entire year of paradise went by. Rimmer and Myra gave birth to a baby girl, Theresa. The dwarfers thought they were living in heaven.  
  
They had all gotten drunk to celebrate the birth of Theresa. They were a happy family, Kochanski was now pregnant, and Cat and Cat were still trying. Things were a bit confusing with two un named cats, they all just decided to avoid using names to identify them as much as possible.  
  
The happy dwarf family's party was just heating up when Holly triggered the Red Alert, green alert and blue alert. They all thought it was for the disco until they crashed. They were the victims of what they liked to call, A Mass Moon. Kind of like a black hole, accept it was just a big moon where the atoms were so tightly compressed, that its mass was gigantic, but it still only appeared to be a tiny moon. It had so much gravity that it could suck just about anything in. they soon found they were not the only ship on this moon. Inside another, small ship were about 4 humans, all presumed dead, accept for one with the slightest pulse. They took her aboard and were just able to save her.  
  
Her name was Angela. She was so sweet and caring. She had to be the most compassionate person you could meet. She was wonderful to be around. She was a few years younger than everyone, and fit in pretty well. She was just that kind of person who could fit in anywhere. No one had any idea of all the sadness she had been hiding. No one would have even imagined how she felt.  
  
Angela had felt so guilty. If she had been a mechanoid, her guilt chip would taken up the entire ship. In her opinion, she never deserved the kindness she was given, and was always so thankful for it. Her sadness, even when so much good was happening around her, made her feel worse. She felt terrible. She hated disappointing people. She cared more for their feeling than her own. She was there to please, but still kept a healthy level of self respect.  
  
It became too much for her. She had taken blue midget and left, and no one knew where she had gone. Was she in search of something, or was it just a suicide mission?  
  
Rimmer swigged down the last of his fifth can of Lager, and put a cigarette up to his lips. Everyone missed Angela, they only wished they could have made her feel more welcome aboard the ship. What had they done wrong? Could they have changed her mind if they had tried? had she been hiding something?  
  
"Hey Man." Rimmer hadn't even noticed Lister walk in.  
  
"Hi" Rimmer mumbled. He was quite dizzy.  
  
"hey man, we all miss her." Said Lister. Lister and Rimmer had grown closer since Myra's arrival, they were almost like brothers. Sure they still pissed each other off sometimes, but they had grown closer.  
  
"What'd we do wrong?" mumbled Rimmer, surprisingly well for someone so drunk.  
  
Lister sighed. "I often wonder that myself. I hope she is ok." 


	2. Chapter 1- Angela

Chapter 1- Angela  
  
  
  
"Where in the smeg are we?" Said Ace, grabbing his wig before it fell. Thank god for safety belts of he could have gone through the windshield. "Why did we crash?"  
  
"Ace, you really should practice using the Ace voice." Said the computer. She smiled down at him from the overhead monitor.  
  
Ace Rimmer cleared his throat. "Sorry, don't know what came over me." Ace straightened his wig and sat back up on his seat. His shirt had gotten snagged on something and had a huge rip in it. "That was a good top, damnit." He mumbled.  
  
"Shame." Said The computer.  
  
"So, what happened?" Ace snapped at her, forgetting once again to do his Ace voice.  
  
The computer shook her head in disgust. "You really must have taken a bump on the head there."  
  
Ace realized he had done it again. He didn't feel like admitting to the computer, who was quite gorgeous, but the biggest pest, that he never had gotten used to using that stupid voice in the two years of being Ace so far, and he probably never would be. "Will you please just smegging tell me what happened!" He shouted in Rimmer's whiney voice.  
  
"Alright! Keep your wig on!" She shouted. Her face left the monitor for a few seconds and then returned. "um… please don't be mad at me… but."  
  
Ace checked his appearance in the mirror to make sure he looked like Ace. "I won't be." He said, finally coming to his senses. This time he said it in a very masculine Ace voice.  
  
"I seem to have crashed us right into a planetoid. I don't know what happened, Maybe I punched the coordinates in wrong."  
  
Ace sighed. "Damage report?"  
  
"Hmm, nothing but that shirt, I guess."  
  
Ace laughed. "I suppose I'll live without it." Ace got up and pushed open the cockpit door. He stepped out of it onto a desert planet. The wind was calm.  
  
"One more thing, I can't take off again, too much sand. You'll have to shovel it away." Ace went into storage to find a shovel and began to get the sand out of the way. There was quite a bit, so it would be quite a bit or work.  
  
"Need a hand?"  
  
Ace jumped back. That wasn't the voice of the computer. He looked around until he saw someone. Whoever they were, they were just standing there in a white space suit that covered their face. Their voice sounded female.  
  
"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, there is a life sign. Funny how these things can slip your mind." Said the computer.  
  
Ace put his shovel down in the sand and walked over to the human. Well, he was pretty sure it was human. "Thanks, but I think I've got it under control. Names Ace Rimmer." He held out a hand. Whoever was inside that space suit reached out and shook it. "Who might you be?"  
  
"I've got a better question, how can you breath this atmosphere? You look like a human, but…"  
  
"There will be time for an explanation later." Said Ace. "Would you like to come inside the wildfire for a bit and take that space suit off?" he offered.  
  
"Really? I'd love to. I get so sweaty in these things."  
  
Ace lead her into the cockpit and used the seal. He hadn't had to use it in awhile. "Turn on the O/G unit please." Said Ace to the computer. The fans told him that she had done it. "Just a few minutes till' the air is breathable."  
  
"thank you" she said. Ace could defiantly tell this was a woman. Something seemed different about her, and he hadn't even seen her. Something in her voice.  
  
"The air is breathable enough for you to remove your space suit, love." Said the computer.  
  
The woman reached for her helmet and took it off. She shook her head so her hair was back to normal. She was beautiful. Her skin was a light olive color, and her hair was shoulder length and a beautiful hazel color. Her eyes were brown like mocha. She smiled. She unzipped the space suit. Ace watched her very closely. Sure he had seen many beautiful woman, but something seemed different about her.  
  
The woman was wearing a casual orange T-shirt that said Sunshine. it showed off her small figure, and jeans.  
  
Ace smiled. "You haven't told me you're name yet." He said.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry. Its Angela."  
  
"that's a beautiful name. Just Angela, or is there more?"  
  
"There's more, but its just Angela for now."  
  
"So Angela, what brings you to a desert planet like this?" he asked her.  
  
"I was just exploring." She explained.  
  
"By yourself?" he asked.  
  
She nodded. She started to look a little uneasy. "What about you?"  
  
"I was dimension jumping, seems we made a mistake and ended up here." He explained.  
  
Angela smiled. "That was quite a crash."  
  
Ace returned the smile. "So, anything I can do for you? Update your ship? Need any supplies?"  
  
"Well, blue midget could use an upgrade."  
  
"blue midget?" it couldn't be! Blue midget was a ship on Red Dwarf! How did she get her hands on one of them? Could she have stolen it?  
  
"I'd be glad to." He said, grabbing his supplies.  
  
Angela pulled her space suit back on and put the helmet on. Ace opened the cockpit door and they both stepped out. "its over there somewhere."  
  
Ace and Angela walked silently until they reached blue midget. At the sight of it, Ace got a little homesick. He had so many memories on Red Dwarf with his crew members. He missed them. "Angie, hope you don't mind me asking, but where did you get this ship?"  
  
The smile wore off Angela's face. "Red Dwarf" She mumbled.  
  
"Well how? Did they give it to you, did you steal it?" he asked.  
  
"I don't know what you are talking about." She mumbled. She sounded like she was going to cry. Ace wondered what he had said to make her so upset. Angela sighed. "By any chance are you related to Arnold Rimmer?" She asked.  
  
"You could say that." He said. "How do you know Arnie?"  
  
"he and the others rescued me when my other ship crashed. My crew mates dies, but he saved my life." She explained.  
  
"Oh, I see." That made sense. They probably took her aboard, and gave her blue midget. "Well, its all upgraded."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"no problem. Perhaps you would like to have some fantastic sex later." He offered.  
  
What a strange offer. "um, I don't know. That's a little upfront, don't you think?"  
  
Ace shrugged "Its ok if you don't want to." Well this was a little strange. Most woman couldn't resist him. Why wasn't she jumping at the idea of spending a night with him?  
  
"I didn't necessarily say that."  
  
"So you want to?"  
  
"Ace, I just met you, well sort of." Angela thought for a moment. "I think Arnie mentioned you. You are from a parallel dimension where you got all the lucky breaks. Something like that."  
  
"You could say that." Ace decided to be a little mysterious. She was, by not telling him her last name, but that really didn't mean much.  
  
  
  
~  
  
Myra and Kochanski sat in the lounge with Vodkas. Myra was lonely without Angela. They had almost been sisters.  
  
"Maybe we should-"  
  
"Look Kris, I know what you are going to say, just save it!" Myra snapped.  
  
"I was just going to say 'get another vodka'." Kochanski lied.  
  
"Sorry." Myra apologized.  
  
Kochanski got up and walked into the kitchen. She didn't feel like being around Myra when she was in this mood. She was down enough, she didn't need Myra bringing her down more.  
  
She felt Dave kissing the back of her neck. It startled her a little bit, and she yelped.  
  
"What's the matter, Kris?" He asked her.  
  
"Sorry Dave." She answered. 


	3. Chapter 3- Journey

Chapter 3- Jourley  
  
Finally, Kochanski was left alone. She needed to think. She wanted to track Angela down, but the question was, did she want to be tracked down? They had given her a ship to live in, and friendship, not to mention food for the past year and a half. She always seemed so happy. It really warmed their hearts to have her aboard. She had just left with no explanation. Not even a note or anything. Just a simple goodbye. She didn't even make it clear what she was doing. Kris remembered what she had done. They just happened to pass each other in the hall and Angela said "Bye Kris" in a quiet voice. It had confused her, but she hadn't exactly done anything to stop her from going. Now she was really gone. She had only been gone a week and a half now, but she was very intelligent. She could make it so blue midget didn't show up on any scanners if she wanted to. That's obviously what she had done. Holly said all the scanners could detect was she was somewhere between the ship and Long range. The Cat could smell her, but without her showing up on the scans it was useless. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. If you ever did find that needle, it would stab you and make you bleed.  
  
  
  
~  
  
  
  
"Alright Ace, that's good enough. We can take off now." Said The computer in a sexy voice. Angela thought it was kind of funny, because she was so used to Holly. Holly wasn't the least bit sexy, but he was a good laugh.  
  
"What's the rush?" Ace asked.  
  
"Well, I just thought maybe you'd like to get out of here." She said again.  
  
"nonsense, I can stay a little longer." He said.  
  
"Well alright, but not too long."  
  
Once again, Ace and Angela sat in the cockpit of Wildfire. Angela was having a little trouble being open with Ace anymore after he had asked her if she wanted to have sex. She felt the urge to lie to him, or just plain run away and get out of here, but she knew she couldn't. She hated running away. She was a firm believer in facing her problems head on, or at least she used to be.  
  
Ace made her feel so 'home sick'. He looked so much like Arnie. He didn't act like him at all. It was mostly the him she believed he could be if he tried. Angela hated keeping secrets from everyone, but some things were better left unsaid. If she had mentioned that she had really liked, almost loved Arnie, that would be the end of her friendship with Myra. Things would have really been uneasy with that. He was pretty much married after all. Angela had come a few months too late. Angela wondered how things would have been if she had gotten there first, and Myra had come when she did.  
  
Angela stared up at Ace, her heart began to beat faster. Maybe she should have sex with him. Who would stop her? What was holding her back? She wanted life experience. She wanted love. Before coming onboard the Red Dwarf, she had been on another small ship that did research. It was her and three other women. The trip was only supposed to last a year, but a deadly disease had spread all over the ship. They all had to be put into stasis so they would not contract it, and so their computer could fight it off. Unfortunately, in the process of doing so, they crashed into a planetoid. The ship laid there for millions of years until finally something had happened. Somehow, and it was still a mystery even now, something or someone had repaired their computer, and let them out of stasis. By the time they were out, the computer was only able to tell them that. Angela had spent the next 8 years on that ship. It was miserable. Secrets came out that the other three were lesbians. Two of them were 'in love' with each other, but Margery… Angela wanted to forget what had happened, but couldn't. Margery had betrayed her. She had trusted her. Angela was almost glad they were dead. Those were the worst eight years of her life. She would rather have been in a prison than there.  
  
Well, Ace Rimmer was a man, so she didn't have to worry about that happening exactly.  
  
"So Angela, where are you headed." Ace asked her, noticing the giant pause in the conversation.  
  
Angela shrugged. She really didn't know where she was going, or what she was looking for. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Not just the right thing, the only thing. Seeing Ace made her regret leaving.  
  
"Just exploring?" he asked.  
  
"Pretty much." She mumbled.  
  
"How long have you been exploring?"  
  
"A week and a half." It seemed pretty clear Angela would never find what she was looking for. She would aimlessly wander for the rest of her life without a home. Without anyone who truly cared about her. One reason she left was because she wanted to be alone. She felt better when she was alone. She had always faced life alone, and that's how she functioned best. She didn't mind company, in fact sometimes it was very pleasant.  
  
Angela also wanted to find someone who cared about her in a way no one ever did. She didn't want to have sex with someone just because she could.  
  
"That's not very long." He said.  
  
From above, the computer watched the 2 of them. She knew exactly where Angela had come from. She had seen her before. She had been in this dimension before. She and the Ace before this one flew in here to find their replacement, Ace didn't have much time left, so she had to put him into stasis. She was about to request landing permission when she saw Rimmer. He was smiling and laughing and had a woman in his arms. He looked so happy. She couldn't have him do this. They were obviously in love. The computer had also seen Angela, looking miserable. She was looking at Arnold from an open doorway with tears in her eyes. Poor little thing.  
  
"Maybe we should get out of here, would you like to come with me, Angela?" Ace asked.  
  
"Are you planning to leave this dimension?" She asked.  
  
"Not any time soon."  
  
"Alright, I've got nothing to lose." She replied.  
  
  
  
~  
  
  
  
Rimmer and Myra laid together in their shared quarters. They had started sharing it two months before Angela arrived. It had been awhile, and they had gotten used to sleeping next to each other. They would on occasions wake up and make love to each other. They had a child to take care of now. Theresa was a huge hassle, but so adorably cute!  
  
Rimmer held Theresa in his arms, and Myra laid next to him. All of them were comfortable and content. It didn't seem like the right time to discuss Angela, but it was all that was on anybody's mind.  
  
"Myra, do you think maybe we should look for her?" Rimmer asked her.  
  
A tear slowly dripped down Myra's cheek. She kissed Rimmer's cheek. "I don't think that's what she wants, but I know I won't be happy until I see she is ok." Myra replied. Rimmer was the only one she really could tell her true feeling to. She always kept them inside. She didn't have a diary or anything. Rimmer was like her diary. She told him how she was feeling whenever she needed to, and he, being her lover, always listened to her. He really did love her. It never seemed like he would ever find someone like her. He was truly lucky to have her.  
  
"How about you, Theresa, do you miss aunt Angela?" Rimmer asked, in a cute little voice.  
  
Theresa couldn't talk yet, but she began to squirm, which indicated she was unhappy. "I know how you feel" Myra whispered to her.  
  
  
  
~  
  
Angela sat in the small cockpit of the wildfire. She had some of her things with her. Just the essentials, cloths, her diary, that sort of thing. She was leaving Blue Midget on the planetoid. She would come back for it later. She needed to get away from its loneliness. Angela didn't know how long she would be here with Ace. It would be anywhere from a few days to a few months. She didn't know why he even wanted her with him. He had offered, so she was taking him up on his offer.  
  
The engines of the Wildfire began to make noise. Before they knew it, they were in the air. The planetoid was getting smaller and smaller until they couldn't see it anymore.  
  
"Hold on." Said Ace as he pulled back a lever. There was a huge jolt as they flew across the galaxy at light speed.  
  
Since Ace didn't exactly give Angela enough time to prepare, she was thrown against the cockpit wall. Ace reached a hand out fir her to grab and she managed to help herself out. The wildfire was small and there was barley enough room for her in there. Angela made a mental note that if Ace ever said "hold on" again she would listen. "What did you just do?" Angela asked him?  
  
"Space hop. We are now at the other side of the galaxy. I am picking up a distress signal." 


	4. Chapter 4- Sims

Chapter 4- Sims  
  
"I'm walking away  
  
from the troubles in my life  
  
I'm walking away  
  
Gonna' find a better day…" Angela sang the words to a Lenny Kravitz song softly to herself. For the last few months that song had described her feelings pretty well, and now she was finally walking away. Well, more like flying away. It didn't completely feel right being here with Ace. This guy seemed way to care-free. He wasn't very Rimmer-like at all. Angela rested her head in her hands, hitting herself. She deserved to be hit. She had allowed herself to make decisions that would affect her entire life in moments with little or no thought involved, and now once again she felt miserable. This was not where she was meant to be.  
  
Angela suddenly felt the urge to go back. To lay beneath the covers in her quarters.  
  
"Angela, I can't help but notice you seem so much quieter then before." Said Ace.  
  
Angela didn't really want to reply to that. "Are we going to get to the ship giving out the distress signal soon?" She asked.  
  
'Um, Bout' an hour."  
  
  
  
~  
  
Lister really didn't have much hope, but unlike the others he had to try. He would never be able to live with himself if he didn't. Lister steered Starbug in a random direction. He didn't know where to look for her. Where could she be? The scanners had been picking up a very light signal from blue midget before, but now there was nothing. Either she completely rigged the scans, or she was gone. Lister prayed that it was the first one. Angela always knew how to hack into things. She had done it many times before. The vending machine on D deck thought it was a flying monkey named Fred, and didn't give anything but bananas. Lister wasn't sure why she had done that. It was cute, though. Angela was part of the crew. That would never change no matter where she was.  
  
Lister steered Starbug around a small planetoid. It didn't have much gravity, so it wasn't that much of a threat. Lister flew closer until he began to pick up a signal, At first he thought it was Angela, and shouted "Brutal!" But then he realized it wasn't her at all. Simulants! They just kind of appeared there out of no where. Lister knew there ships could easily out-run Starbug, but he had to try to lose them. Lister turned around as fast as the bug would allow and started going the other way, hoping the Sims didn't pick him up yet, but that wasn't likely. What if Angela was on their ship? He could not handle this alone, he had to get back to Red Dwarf. That wouldn't be easy, he had been in Starbug fir a few hours , and we pretty far away. He started going full speed. If he want as fast as possible and totally blew out the engines, he could maybe make it back in an hour, and if he played his cards right, it could be just enough time to avoid the Sims. "Smeggin' hell" Said Lister, pulling out the in- flight magazine from the seat. He sat there flipping through it while Starbug was on auto-pilot, even reading boring articles didn't calm him down this time.  
  
~  
  
Kristine Kochanski rushed into Rimmer and Myra's quarters without knocking. They weren't doing the dirty work, but Rimmer did have his shirt off. Theresa began to cry.  
  
"Myra! Arn! Dave is gone!!!!" She shouted with tears in her eyes.  
  
Myra's eyes widened. "What do you mean *Gone*?" Shouted Myra.  
  
"He's gone! Holly told me he literally isn't on the ship, where could he have gone?" She sobbed.  
  
"No offence, Kris, but it doesn't take half a brain to figure out where he went!" Said Myra, reasonable calmly.  
  
"Fine then, where is he?" Kochanski continued to sob.  
  
"Out looking for Angela! About time someone did." Said Myra, as she brushed some of her dark hair out of the way of her deep blue eyes.  
  
"Without telling any of us?" Kochanski stopped sobbing for a moment. Rimmer handed Theresa to Myra and got up to hand Kris a tissue. Rimmer had gotten more sensitive over the years with Myra.  
  
Myra gave Theresa a kiss on her forehead. "Maybe. He probably didn't want to tell any of us because we would try and stop him."  
  
Kris took the tissue. "Thank you" She said as she wiped her wet eyes.  
  
"Why would we have stopped him?" Asked Rimmer, pulling his shirt up over his head.  
  
"Lets go try and make contact with him. Sweetie, will you go see if one of the starbugs or midgets is missing?" Myra asked.  
  
"Of course." He stepped out of the room.  
  
Myra gave Kris a friendly hug, but they both had a lot on their minds."  
  
~  
  
"Smeg smeg smeg!" Mumbled Lister. The Simulants had taken notice to him, and were coming closer. Lister was still forty-five minutes from the dwarf at the least!  
  
"Mr. Lister sir!"  
  
Lister looked at the monitor, it was full of static. "Kryten? That you?"  
  
"Oh Mr. Lister! Where did you go?" Shouted Kryten.  
  
"Where d'you think I went, Krytes." Said Lister in a slight panic.  
  
"Oh Mr. Lister, I was worried!"  
  
"Hate to break it to ya man, but I do have a bit of a problem." Said Lister. Kryten began to sense the panic in Lister's voice.  
  
"Dave, what's going on?" Now it was Kris's voice.  
  
"Kris, I've got Simulants tracking me! Dunno' if I'm gonna' make it!"  
  
The picture on the screen began to get clearer. "Dave, which directing did you fly?" Asked Kris.  
  
"North east."  
  
"Alright, I'll start flying the dwarf that way, we'll make it Dave, I promise!"  
  
"Oh smeg, they're getting closer on the screen! Any way I can speed this baby up?" Now Dave was really beginning to panic.  
  
"Dave, you always taught me to stay calm in a time of crisis!" Kris said, in a way to try and calm Lister down. I did a little bit.  
  
"I'm tryin', Kris." 


	5. Chapter 5- Wildfire

Chapter 5- Wildfire  
  
Angela was in a deep sleep in the cockpit. Ace would have woken her up if he had more warning, but you never knew when you were going to be fired at. The huge crash rocked the entire cockpit, flinging Angela out of her chair and against the wall.  
  
"You ok?" Ace asked her.  
  
Angela slowly got up and grabbed onto the wall incase  
  
of another huge crash like that. "What the smeg happened?" She shouted.  
  
"We got hit, but this old ship has been through a lot, a small hit like that doesn't do any damage." Said Ace.  
  
"Maybe not to you." She said. Blood dripped out of a small gash on her head from the impact of the crash.  
  
"I think the distress signal came from around here somewhere. I can see why." Said Ace.  
  
Another huge crash shook the cockpit. luckily they were prepared this time.  
  
"You'd better get strapped in. there's more where that came from." Ace warned, in a macho Ace voice that sounded totally fake to Angela. She had heard Rimmer imitate it many times. it was pretty funny. It sounded so weird taken seriously.  
  
There were a few more smaller crashes that Angela was able to stand, but then one came so huge she flew across the cockpit slamming herself against the opposite wall, knocking herself unconscious.  
  
Ace of course was just fine, being that he was used to this kind of thing by now. He glared over at Angela laying in the corner, blood coming out of a small gash on her head. She looked so helpless. He was forced to make a difficult decision, get up to help Angela and risk them firing at him while no one was steering, killing them both, or just leaving her there. Without time to think, Ace pulled off his safety straps, and dove across the unstable cockpit to her. He lifted her up. Another crash shook the cockpit, but Ace kept his balance. Ace kicked the lever to lower the seat with his boot and strapped her in. He wiped her gash off and quickly bandaged it, and got back to his seat. It was Simulants. Ace usually didn't have problems with them, because he did not give off any life sign. After all, he was a hard light hologram. Now that Angela was with him, he may have been in much more trouble then he bargained for.  
  
"Ace, I have the feeling there is no one here to rescue but yourself, deary." Said The computer while she stared at him dreamily.  
  
"You mean it was all a trap just to lure me in?"  
  
"Yeah, looks like they fooled you." She said sadly.  
  
"Damn" mumbled Ace.  
  
  
  
Light began to flood into Angela's eyes. She couldn't remember where she was at first, then she saw the back of Ace's head and it all came back to her. At least the constant crashing and shaking had slowed down. "Ace, what's happening?" She asked, in a helpless slight panic.  
  
"Don't worry about it, I've got it under control." He said softly. It was almost if he had only said it to convince himself of it, and not her.  
  
Angela could sense the panic in his voice. "What happened to me?" She asked.  
  
"You slammed against the wall and passed out." Said The computer. She began to smile. "Ace here fixed you up and strapped you in."  
  
"Its nothing really." Said Ace.  
  
"thank you." She said, pulling her seat back up so she could sit upright. She felt a little light headed. She was a little scared, but didn't want to mention it. "What keeps firing at us?"  
  
"Don't worry your pretty little head about it." Said Ace.  
  
Angela took offence to that. "Ace, I can handle it! Tell me!" She usually didn't yell at people like that, but it seemed right.  
  
"Alright then, they're Simulants. This old ship can handle it, though." Ace didn't seem to be paying a whole lot of attention to Angela. There Sims just didn't give up, did they? They had been firing at him for almost a half hour.  
  
Simulants…simulants. This was not the first time Angela had encountered Sims. She had come across them twice before. They had just barley made it alive. Those sims fought dirty. "Not them again." She mumbled.  
  
"You've come across sims before?" Ace asked, looking back at her for a moment.  
  
"Yeah, with my old crew, the one before Red Dwarf."  
  
Ace shook his head. "These guys are sick. I once found an abandoned ship crashed on a planetoid. They had shot the ship down. There were four people in stasis onboard."  
  
"What happened to them?" She asked.  
  
"Dunno', I fixed up their ship, re booted their computer and got out of there."  
  
Angela's eyes widened. She gasped. "My God! It was you!" She shouted.  
  
"Me?" He asked curiously.  
  
"that was almost 10 years ago! I was only 15 back then. The S.S.S. Dragonfly!" She exclaimed. It had been a mystery for the last 10 years of how their ship had gotten repaired, and their computer had gotten booted up. She would still be lying in a stasis booth if it weren't for him, and she would probably be there until the dawn of time, lying there in a state on non-being.  
  
"You were on that ship?" he asked.  
  
"yeah"  
  
"What happened to you guys?"  
  
"Ace, it was like hell! They betrayed me, they even… raped me. Lesbians raped me! It was horrible. After 8 years we were attacked by the sims and they died. I am wondering what took the sims so long! I was rescued by the crew of Red Dwarf. I just made it."  
  
Ace was shocked. He could tell she was pretty ashamed about the rape. Her voice was shuddering. It seemed like she was on the verge of tears. "They died, huh?" He said. He still wasn't good at talking. Even though he had been Ace so long.  
  
"Yeah." She mumbled. "That was a long time ago."  
  
"Yeah, it was." He said, while dodging more firings.  
  
"We always wondered how we were saved. The computer couldn't remember. I guess I should thank you." She had a tear in her eye. Ace would have hugged her if he didn't have to steer.  
  
"no, you shouldn't. You just said it was like hell."  
  
"Well, I am still glad you saved us." She wiped her tears.  
  
"You know, Angela, this isn't the first time I have seen you." He said.  
  
That was curious. "What do you mean?"  
  
"A yeah ago, my light bee was hit by a laser. Didn't think I would make it. I was in this dimension at the time, and I thought I would have to recruit a new Ace-"  
  
"What? Recruit a new Ace?"  
  
"I'll explain later. Anyway, I flew right over Red Dwarf. I looked in, and saw Arnie with a wife and friends. I couldn't take him away from that, he looked so happy. I copied my memory in my final minutes, then I died. The computer had to steal another light bee from Red Dwarf, and re-boot me."  
  
"How did she do that? She's just a head."  
  
"Hey! I may be just a head, but I am capable of quite a lot! I have an IQ of 10,000!"  
  
Angela smiled. "That's what they all say! I bet it gets decreased to 10 when you are around Ace." She could tell the computer had a huge infatuation with Ace.  
  
Ace laughed. "She hypnotized Kryten, got it from him, then erased his memory."  
  
Ace was pretty good at carrying on a conversation at times of danger. 


	6. Chapter 6- Favor

Chapter 6-  
  
Ace began firing at the sims, but his attempts did them no good. Their ship was nearly indestructible.  
  
A Face appeared on the monitor. It looked familiar to Angela. "Hand over the human and we'll leave your vessel alone." Said the Simulant. It was a female with a low pitched voice like a lesbian. Angela got a little tense, but figured that Ace would not do that to her.  
  
"Hell no." Said Ace He closed communication. He looked over at Angela. "Firing isn't getting us anywhere. I have to go aboard and kick some simulant ass, will you be ok alone?"  
  
Angela nodded. She was a little scared, but he seemed confidant with this.  
  
"Alright then, smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast." Ace strapped a jetpack on his back that just happened to be laying there, kicked open the door of the cockpit and dove out.  
  
Angela checked her watch, breakfast was only a few hours away. She laughed silently to herself. Angela wondered what Ace was going to do on that ship. Probably just pop in and kick some simulant ass. Seemed like he did that kind of think a lot.  
  
~  
  
It couldn't have been more clear to Lister that Starbug had been tracked down by the sims. Maybe he could make it to Red Dwarf. It was about 15 minutes away now. A massive fire rocked the entire ship. It didn't hold out as well as Ace's ship did. The entire ship spun up-side-down, making Lister fall off his chair and on to the ceiling, then back on to his chair. He glanced at the damage report. One of the engines was out. There was no way he could out run anybody now. He began to type in the codes for a distress call. It was a final hope, but he knew no one could save him now. He was as good as dead.  
  
~  
  
Angela sat in the cockpit nervously for awhile, until a little machine started to beep. She had no idea what it did, so just ignored it. It had been awhile, and she was beginning to worry about Ace. The computer's face appeared on the monitor. "Oh dear, we seem to have a problem here." She didn't sound too worried, and Angela knew that if something had happened to Ace she would be in a hysteric, so she stayed calm. "What is it?"  
  
"We are picking up a distress signal, but Ace isn't here to take it. I've already informed him.  
  
Angela gasped. "Do you think its from-" She began.  
  
The computer cut her off. "Ace is giving me instructions… he is a bit tied up at the moment and needs you to take care of this one."  
  
"Me?"  
  
"I'll walk you through it! They are your crewmates!"  
  
"What about Ace?"  
  
"He'll be ok. Once we are done we'll come and pick him up. Remember, he still has the jet pack."  
  
Angela was really unsure about this, but she couldn't let anything happen to her crewmates. She nodded. "What do I do first?"  
  
"Just hold on, I just programmed the ship to do a Hyper-jump to your crew mates. It's going to be quite a bumpy ride." As she said that, the entire ship began to shape, but just as quickly as it started, it stopped. Angela got up from under the seat she had been ducking under and looked out the windshield. It was Starbug.  
  
"Angela, there are simulants close by. Dave is in there. First things first, we need to return him to his vessel, because that Starbug has a burnt out engine."  
  
Angela nodded. She began to pull her space suit on. She felt quite uneasy doing this. First of all, she had never done anything heroic like this, and it would be kind of strange just going in and rescuing Dave. The computer told her where the Jet packs were. Angela rushed in and grabbed one. She also put on a watch so The computer could communicate with her. Angela kicked open the cockpit door like Ace had, but unlike Ace, she was shivering.  
  
~  
  
Dave had lost all hope now. The Sims shot at him a few more times, and now Starbug was completely useless. He probably only had a few more minutes before he would become their prisoner. He could here the doors of Starbug opening. Maybe less than a few minutes. "I surrender!" He shouted, with tears in his eyes at the thought of the torture that was about to come. And Kris. Would he ever see her again?  
  
"No Dave, I'm here to save you, not capture you." The voice sounded slightly familiar. He figured it was a trap, but had to go look anyway. Someone was standing there in a small silver space corps space suit. They had a jet pack around their shoulders. "Hurry up, get a space suit on. The atmosphere out there is poisonous!"  
  
Lister did as he was told. Before he knew it, whoever was in there was grabbing him around the waste and flying him out starbug's doors. "Where are you taking me?"  
  
"The wildfire, then back to your vessel."  
  
"Ace, that you?" Dave asked.  
  
"Um.. It's a friend of his." She wasn't totally lying.  
  
~  
  
"What do I do now?" She whispered to the computer.  
  
"Just return him to Red Dwarf, and send Wildfire back to Ace on auto pilot. He'll handle the Simulants."  
  
"That's it?" she mumbled.  
  
"Yeah! You are doing a great job!"  
  
Angela opened up the cockpit of Wildfire and gently set Dave down.  
  
"Who are you?" he asked her.  
  
Angela wasn't sure if she should tell him. In fact, maybe it was better if they never found out she had saved them. On the other hand she missed them terribly, but how could she deal with the humiliation of coming back? She didn't answer him. A pang of anxiety rose from the pit of her stomach. She was going to have to see Arnold and Myra and Cat again. Their faces would bring tears in her eyes. She began to steer towards Red Dwarf. She had to do this fast. The Simulants were really close by. "So, what were you doing out there, anyway?" She asked him.  
  
Dave sighed. "Just looking for someone."  
  
A tear dripped down Angela's eye. She still had her helmet on, she he didn't see. She knew that someone was her. He had gone out to look for her. She had out him in danger.  
  
Dave had his helmet off. "You know, you can take your helmet off." He said.  
  
"I know" Said Angela. Before she could do anything to stop him he pulled it off. The result of which almost made him faint. "ANGELA!!!" He shouted. He wrapped his arms around her tight.  
  
'Oh smeg' Angela thought to herself. More tears streamed her eyes.  
  
"My god! I can't believe it's really you! What are you doing here?"  
  
"Saving you from Simulants."  
  
"But in Ace's ship?"  
  
"I'm doing him a favor."  
  
Lister pulled away from the hug suddenly. "I kinda' get the feeling you aren't that happy to see me."  
  
"No Dave, Its not that. I am happy!"  
  
"Angela, why did you leave?" 


End file.
